(Reprinted from the August 2020 issue of Downbeat magazine)
With Four Questions (Zoho Records), Arturo O’Farrill proves prescient. On this release, his first album of all self-composed pieces, the Grammy-winning pianist shoulders what he calls his “sacred obligation” to counter social injustices. The exhilarating Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, O’Farrill’s big band vehicle for the last 13 years, delivers both the pith and the punch of his message.
The first track, “Baby Jack,” introduces O’Farrill’s talent for corralling unleashed syncopation and quixotic harmonies into sweeping orchestral statements; he uses a groundswell of horns to connote the power of exultancy (“Jazz Twins”), for example, and an aggressive, piano-led pulse to signal unrelenting determination (“Clump, Unclump”). His grand chorale work—four movements dubbed, collectively, “A Still, Small Voice”—pairs simple, chromatic vocal lines with intricate, rhythmical ensemble sections. That’s the pith.
The punch comes in the form of a spoken work performance by philosopher Dr. Cornel West, whose 2014 speech about facing down racial oppression provided the album’s theme. On the title track, against O’Farrill’s dramatically percussive score, West invokes the challenge that civil rights activist W.E.B. DuBois put forth in his 1903 book, The Souls of Black Folks. “How does virtue meet brute force? What does courage do in the face of violence?” West asks. Beneath these haunting words, a light, tripping tune bounces along. Brutal.
Powerful as these musical and rhetorical statements are, it would be a lesser album if O’Farrill and West left it there. They didn’t. As the trumpets render a cathartic, dirge-paced “Were You There,” West issues a final, heart-rending blow. “Despair never has the last word,” he intones. “The caravan of love goes on.”
Four Questions: Baby Jack; Jazz Twins; Four Questions; Clump, Unclump; Elijah–1 Kings 19:13; Amidst The Fire and Whirlwind; Cacophonous; A Still, Small Voice. (62 minutes)
Personnel: Arturo O’Farrill, piano, conductor; Dr. Cornel West, narrator (3); Bobby Porcelli, saxophone; Ivan Renta, saxophone; Jeremy Powell, saxophone (1,2,3,4); Larry Bustamante, saxophone (1,2,3,4); David DeJesus, saxophone; Bryan Davis, trumpet (1,2,3,4); Seneca Black, trumpet, voice (4); Adam O’Farrill, trumpet (1,2,3,4); John Bailey, trumpet; David Smith, trumpet (1,2,3,4); Rafi Malkiel, trombone; Kajiwara Tokunori, trombone; Frank Cohen, trombone/tuba; Earl McIntyre, trombone/tuba; Ricardo Rodriguez, bass (1,2,3,4); Tony Rosa, congas (1,2,3,4); Carly Maldonado, bongos, percussion (1,2,3,4); Vince Cherico, drums; Peter Brainin, saxophone (5,6,7,8); Jason Marshall, saxophone (5,6,7,8); Jim Seeley, trumpet (5,6,7,8); Jonathan Powell, trumpet (5,6,7,8); Gregg August, bass (5,6,7,8); Roland Guerrero, congas (5,6,7,8); Joe Gonzalez, bongos (5,6,7,8); Alison Deane, piano (5,6,7,8); Jana Ballard, choral preparation, (5,6,7,8); Aubrey Johnson, voice (5,6,7,8); Edda Fransdottir, voice (5,6,7,8); Sharon Moe, French horn, (5,6,7,8); DJ Logic, turntables (5,6,7,8).